Anna-Beth came to him and glanced around the yard. “Do you want me to leave?”
“No, I promised you food.”
“You’ve got nothing in your fridge. There’s not a lot you can cook.”
“I don’t cook. I’d probably end up killing you with food poisoning or some shit. Nah, I was going to order. You like pizza?”
“I can eat pizza.”
He entered and ordered them both a couple of large pizzas with extra cheesy garlic bread. The conversation he had with Night had given him an appetite. Being back at the clubhouse was where he was going to go.
He’d picked this peaceful town, with its nice street and families with regular nine-to-five jobs for a reason. While he was here, the mafia couldn’t send out any goons to take him out. They had soldiers and hitmen for that thing. Here, he was his own kind of person and he didn’t have to keep looking over his shoulder.
“I’m going to go and grab a few things from my house.”
He didn’t argue and he watched her return with a vacuum and several polishing cloths. Rix helped her finish up cleaning his house while they waited for the pizza. By the time it arrived, he was starved but his house was completely spotless. He was fucking shocked.
The floor didn’t have a single cigarette butt or food anywhere.
She was a fucking goddess.
Even still, this was only temporary with her. He couldn’t bring a boring accountant into his world, it wouldn’t work. She couldn’t even handle his home being a mess, let alone the clubhouse, and those boys loved to party every chance they got.
****
Sitting at her desk Monday morning, Anna-Beth found numbers really fucking boring for the first time in her life.
She opened up the first file and glanced through it, and she didn’t want to do any of it. She’d woken up alone this morning, the first time since she’d had sex with Rix. A couple of his club guys had arrived last night, and she’d excused herself home. She didn’t have a clue what she was doing with him.
The sex was out of this world. It was crazy good. Even now, thinking about it, she wanted to leave, go find Rix, and well, have him all over again.
No!
She wasn’t a needy woman. Whatever it was or what they had, she wasn’t going to start bugging him every second of every single day.
“Hey, Anna-Beth,” Martin said.
She looked up to see one of the accountants. He was in his late thirties, had a wife and a couple of kids, and liked to rub it into everyone’s face just how happy he was.
“Hey,” she said.
“Did you have a good weekend?”
“Yes, you?”
“It was a dream. The wife made me my favorite pie, and then for dessert, she made me my favorite cake. I’m living the best life,” he said.
She dropped her hands onto the desk and looked at him. “Is there a reason you’re bragging about this to me? Any reason at all?”
Martin frowned. “I’m not bragging.”
“That’s what you do. See, Guy, over there, he’s dealing with a messy breakup. He loves his wife and his four kids with every fiber of his being but his wife finds him boring. She wants a divorce and is contesting for custody as well. He’s having a really bad time of it, and you just like to keep on talking about how amazing and wonderful your life is.” She shrugged. “Not everyone wants to hear it. I’ve got work to do.”
She’d never had an outburst like that. Never. She didn’t know Martin very well, nor did she know Guy. She’d been eating her lunch one day a few weeks ago at her desk, and he’d dropped down in the very chair Martin was sitting in and just unloaded on her all this raw, deep, emotional pain. It had been really fucking intense.
Rubbing at her temples, she tried to clear her head.
Boring accountant.
She’d heard what Night had said about her. She had amazing hearing and it wasn’t like they’d checked the windows or were silent. Rix hadn’t disputed it either. She was a boring accountant.
Why did it hurt?
Why did it feel like a betrayal that he hadn’t stood up for her?
“I’m sorry. I didn’t actually come here to brag. I came to ask if you’re doing anything this Friday night,” he said.
She lifted her head with a frown. “Huh?”
“I’m not asking you out, but it does come across that way. Er, I’ve got a friend and he’s, well, he’s really nice. Works at the bank. He’s got a steady job, a house, a car, and I thought you two would hit it off.”
“You want to set me up on a date with your friend?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I think it would be good for the two of you.”
“Do I look like I can’t get my own dates?” she asked.
“Not at all. I was just helping cupid and all that.”
“And why did you have to talk about his job and his car, and his house? I have a house. My own house and I have a car. I like walking everywhere, is that a problem?” she asked.
Martin held his hands up. “Whoa, is this a PMS thing? I was trying to be nice.”
“Wow, just wow. Leave,” she said. “Just go.”
He left and she took a deep breath. She didn’t understand some men. Who did they think they were? Shaking her head, she got back to work, but her mind wasn’t on numbers. No, her thoughts were on Rix and sex.
For the first time in her life, she had something more important happening in her world other than work. It was kind of refreshing but also scary as hell. She finished up her work at exactly five o’clock and she’d been counting down the very hours and minutes until she could finally be released. She didn’t take any files home. Grabbing her bag and jacket, she headed out into the last of the day’s light. She loved sunsets. It was one of the many reasons she walked home.
“Anna-Beth, wait up,” Martin said.
She rolled her eyes but rather than walk as far away from him as she could possibly get, she stopped and waited. “No and no.”
“Hear me out. He’s a good guy, okay? My wife was the one who suggested that I offer out his good prospects. Some women dig that.”
“You’re really going to blame your wife?”
“Hell, yeah.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Call her. She’ll tell you herself. I only do what my wife wants.”
“Thank you for thinking of me, but no.”
“Why not?”
“Why not what?” she asked.
“Go on a date. It’s no harm, or is this about those two houses thing you live in?”
“Huh?” Was he drunk? He didn’t make any sense at all.
“You live in the cursed houses.” He told her the location and she couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Cursed houses, seriously? How old are you?” She’d heard enough. She had to stop off at the store for some supplies, not listen to this.
“I’m being serious,” Martin said. “Do you have a neighbor?”
“Of course I do.”
“See, the cursed houses strike again.”
“Look, this is kind of creepy.”
Martin held his hand up and she really wanted to slug him in the face. Gritting her teeth, she was more than ready to do just that, but he laughed. “Okay, it depends on your perspective of the whole cursed houses. It’s the title that has been attached to them.”